Family
by xCharlie-Groupiex
Summary: With a heavy sigh, she put down her quill and parchment and turned to him, staring expectantly until he noticed her looking his way and looked up in response. Silence for a moment, like he was too preoccupied to know what she wanted him to say. Then, finally, "What?"


**A/N: Just a little oneshot I came up with while watching The Prisoner of Azkaban. I love RonxHermione, but I've always felt like there was some unspoken chemistry between Hermione and Harry, a bond neither character could ever have with anybody else. What can I say? I have a soft spot for them! In this oneshot, there's not really any romance, but it's implied. Anyway, enjoy and please review ! This is set toward the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, before they board the train home.**

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Family:

Poor Harry. He sat in his favourite armchair, staring into the fire blazing in the hearth as though hypnotized by it, obviously very deep in thought. Hermione sat on the Gryffindor common room sofa a few feet away, getting an early start on some Transfiguration homework. Or at least, trying to.

She was doing her best to concentrate, but this was difficult with her best friend looking so glum beside her. Harry was keeping very quiet, but it was precisely this that was so distracting. She could feel the moroseness inhabiting him, feel it in the way he was slumped in his chair, see it in the crease between his dark eyebrows. Something was bothering him and Hermione knew what.

With a heavy sigh, she put down her quill and parchment and turned to him, staring expectantly until he noticed her looking his way and looked up in response. Silence for a moment, like he was too preoccupied to know what she wanted him to say. Then, finally, "What?"

Hermione continued looking blankly upon him. "Harry, the vibe you're giving off is making it a bit hard to study. This paper is due Wednesday, I'll have you know."

Harry rolled his eyes, shook his head at her in irritated disbelief. "What?" This time said rhetorically. "Are you serious? I haven't said a word, and anyway, that's almost a week from now."

Hermione sighed again, crossing her arms stiffly. What was he getting upset about? She'd simply been letting him know. Didn't he understand that Hermione was the kind of girl who couldn't ignore when her friends were feeling down? All she wanted was for him to cheer up a bit so that she could continue working on her paper.

Was she not going about provoking this in the right way?

Alright, change of tactic. She got up from the couch to perch on the armrest of the big, comfortable chair he currently occupied. "Harry," she said his name softly. "Look at me."

He'd gone back to staring into the fire, but raised his head when she called to him. "Thought you were studying."

She grinned. "I told you, I can't. Not with you like this. Harry, don't worry. They're going to catch Pettigrew and put him in Azkaban where he belongs."

He didn't look convinced. "How do you know?"

"I just do. Things almost always find a way of coming to rights."

Harry tensed, then frowned up at her. "Not for my parents, they didn't."

Guilt filled her, her cheeks growing pink with ashamed embarrassment for the blunder. "Oh Harry," distraught, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. What I meant was, look on the bright side. We know the truth now, that Sirius is innocent, and we even helped him escape!"

Harry nodded, once, but not very enthusiastically and without making eye contact. "Yeah." His tone was heavy, sad, but acknowledging. "That's true."

Hermione forced a smile, which wasn't easy, as seeing her friend like this _did_ something to her. Harry had always been a bit of a pessimist. Being raised the way he had, subject to so much neglect and mistreatment, he'd become a young man prone to brooding. Hermione didn't really mind; Harry was Harry, and him being her best friend she loved all things about him.

It was just that, caring about his well being made it that she couldn't help wishing he were a little more positive at times. For his sake and for hers.

They were silent a moment, and then he spoke. "It's just...he got away. I let him get away, Hermione." The inflection of his voice betrayed his frustration. "Yeah, Sirius is my god father and he's free, and that's great," this said sincerely, "but Peter Pettigrew is free too and he killed my family."

Hermione's heart went out to him, but she couldn't accept what he was saying. "No," and this time it was she who spoke full of feeling. Her hand moved from his shoulder to his face to grasp his chin and tilt his gaze toward her, gently but firmly. "Not your whole family. You have Sirius, now. I know he can't replace James and Lily, but still. You have Lupin, an old friend of theirs. You have Ron, Harry. And don't forget, you have me."

Harry was quiet, as if thinking over what she'd said. Then suddenly, the hint of a smile crooked at the corner of his mouth and he nodded, accepted her words as true, hope seemingly reestablished. "You're right. Of course you are."

Hermione gave a little giggle. "I often am, am I not?" She stroked his cheek, feeling it right to do so even as she'd never thought to do it before. Strange. Harry raised his eyebrows, glancing curiously at her, then returning the favour. Watching each other, they smiled warmly, eyes sparkling. It was with a fuzzy feeling inside and a butterfly filled stomach that Hermione returned to her seat on the couch and took up her quill and parchment.

Harry put his feet up, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, grinning happily at the ceiling. "I can't wait to hear all the stories Sirius will have to tell me. He and my dad were best friends, after all."

Hermione smiled to herself, glad to see him cheered, as had been her goal from the start. After all, that was what family was for.

What she felt for him didn't feel like what one would feel for someone who was almost like a brother. This love was a different kind, a sort she couldn't quite identify just yet, but no matter. They were a family all the same, all three of them; she, Ron, and Harry.

Especially she and Harry.

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**A/N: Please review!**


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